Baby Driver

We've carved out some fun in the sun family time this week so there's little opportunity for reflection and writing. But I did want to share a quick something with you about one of the smash hits of the summer, Baby Driver.

A few weeks ago, the girls were both away at camp so Tim and I thought we’d take in a movie. We’d heard great things about Baby Driver, particularly how the action of the film and the soundtrack sync up frequently throughout the movie to create a unique and thrilling experience for the viewer.

That sounded pretty interesting to me. Also the cast was top-notch – Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx.  

Tim didn't think I'd really like it. Lots of chase scenes and shoot 'em up stuff. I admit -- never my first choice in flicks. But still, the soundtrack thing really intrigued me. I wanted to experience that in the theater, to get the full effect.

So we went. And it started off as cool as the reviews suggested. But I found myself taken by the actor Ansel Elgort who played the lead character Baby. Mostly, I was struck by a crazy thought that I couldn't shake, this kid looks like Jay!

But I’d talk myself out of it… nooo, you’re just grasping.

Then Baby would dance to the beat of the tune in his earbuds as he headed out on a  coffee run and I’d be overwhelmed, those are Jay’s moves!

It was nuts. But I didn’t want to run with it. Took it all in. Mentioned it ever so slyly to Tim as we left. He agreed. He'd thought the same thing at several points throughout the show. But still I chalked it up to two parents desperately seeking some connection to our kid in this world.

Several weeks later we had dinner with a friend who’d recently seen the movie. We had so much to talk about –did you like the soundtrack? How about the ending? But he didn’t want to discuss any of that. He wanted to tell us how much Baby on the big screen reminded him of Jay.

Maybe we weren't making this up. So, I'll just put it out there to those of you who knew Jay and especially would recognize his spaghetti body dance moves and ask, what do you think? If you haven't seen the movie, and you're still skeptical that there's any resemblance, I share this with you now:

Go Forth in Love + Remember Jay